328 



DESCRIPTION 



THE COUNTRY 



is distinguished in Indian tradition as having marked, for a long time, the north- 

 western limit of the Chippewa possessions. We learned from one of our voyageurs, 

 that when the grass is burnt off the Point, the forms of a great number of ancient 

 lodges can be seen, which were so constructed that the floors are sunk below the sur- 

 face of the ground. We saw two circles, each about thirty feet in diameter, raised 

 a few inches above the general level, and the area inside was apparently excavated 

 to a slight depth. Near them, and at the most projecting point of land, is a mound, 

 about forty feet in diameter at the base, and five feet high. It is a circle, and on 

 the side next the land is a narrow raised pathway, leading to the top. Just where 

 the pathway terminates are the remains of the stump of a large oak. The top of 

 the mound commands a view of several miles across the savannas, up and down 

 the river. The voyageur alluded to says that the smaller circles are arranged in 

 one great circle, the mound forming the centre of the ring next the river ; and that 

 the remains of earthen pots have been frequently found here. 



The river continues to flow through wide savannas for a long distance below 

 Oak Point, when the ridges begin to approach nearer and nearer, and occasionally 

 come up to the margin of the water, exhibiting sections of the sands and clays 

 described above. After passing the mouth of Pokegoma River, the high banks on 

 both sides continue to approximate until the Falls are reached. The higher grounds 

 are wooded with pine, and the lower ones with oak, birch, and aspen. 



The summit of the ridge of rock at the " Falls of Pokegoma," is forty-one feet 

 above the water-level below the fall, and bears east by north and west by south. 

 This is the only exposure of rock, in place, on the Mississippi, from its sources to 

 the mouth of Omoshkos or Elk River. The river has cut a deep channel through 

 the rocks, and falls twelve and a half feet in two hundred and fifty yards. The 

 rock is well exposed in the walls of the channel, and on the west side of the river, 

 for the distance of several hundred yards. It consists principally of quartzite (No. 

 58G) on the sides of the ridge, and of granite (No. 584) in the centre. The great 

 body of rock exposed is altered or metamorphosed sandstone ; and in the midst of 

 the fall, where it is subjected to the constant action of water, it becomes soft, and 

 differs very little in general appearance from the sandstones of the Chippewa and 

 Lower St. Croix Rivers (No. 585). Where the quartzite is in near contact with 

 the granite, it is sub-porphyritic. 



This ridge is called by the Indians Ish-ho-na-bi Wachu, and in its northeasterly 

 prolongation, forms the dividing ridge between the waters flowing north into Rainy 

 Lake River, and those flowing south into the Mississippi and into Lake Superior ; 

 and which takes the name of Missabe Wachu between Upper Embarras and Ver- 

 milion Rivers. Continued in a southwesterly direction from the Falls of Pokegoma, 

 this ridge would pass south of Leech Lake, and separate its tributaries from Wil- 

 low, Pine, Gull, and Crow Wing Rivers, and other tributaries of the Mississippi, 

 and strike Red River of the North near the Great Bend, at which point Dr. Owen 

 found Silurian rocks, in 1848. 



These facts, taken in connexion with the general structure of the country, lead 

 me to the conclusion, that the heavy drift deposits lying between the great south- 

 westerly reach of the Mississippi, extending from Sandy Lake to the mouth of 



